NIGERIA'S search for her stolen monies since late Gen. Sani
Abacha died has since snowballed into many things. From the
time Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) took over to the reported
latest discovery of some billions by President Olusegun
Obasanjo in some non descript European bankers, not a few
otherwise reputable names have been smeared. While Gen.
Abubakar did not himself escape unscarthe, given latter day
charges of profligacy, assisted by the hitherto buoyant foreign
reserve, President Obasanjo's approach has been severally
described as suspect in circles. With these calibre of victims,
no one can expect that lesser mortals would not be affected,
rightly or wrongly, in the process.

While many Nigerians have been correctly or incorrectly linked
with the transactions in the Abacha period and even before and
beyond, foreigners are equally beginning to get their share of
the damming campaign. One person whose role have been x-rayed
maximally in recent times is that of the successful US
professional banker, Mr. Bob Minton. His role was recently
further celebrated by the announced "discoveries" of former
footballer, John Fashanu, of some assumed debt buy back
transaction carried out in the former President Ibrahim
Babangida regime with Minton as a principal beneficiary.

The most unfortunate aspect of all these, however, is that
Minton's arguments have somewhat not been appreciated by
quarters that should. While this is not any attempt at a cheeky
defence of Minton, it is however necessary for the populace not
to shy away from the truth in the guise of a misguided self
righteous pursuit of transparency. He who must come to equity
must come with clean hands. As such, if a Minton is to be
demonised, there should at least be a valuable reason for it.
Otherwise, the administration's anti-corruption drive will be
driving at the innocent, or the uninvestigated, or just any
other past business partner that has correctly or incorrectly
had any business dealing with the country. For Minton
particularly however, I see holes not unblock going by recent
media reports. The point to be hurriedly made is that the
Fashanu report hit Babangida. And Babangida is not exactly a
fancied person. Especially when his stupendous wealth, believed
to have been acquired in office, is considered. Against that
background, anything demonising Babangida is welcomed. And any
attempt at warding off such attacks is greeted with rebuke. And
so, the dilemma. By extension, it explains why Minton points
have regrettably not been appreciated to a level where he
would, as it were, stand exonerated.

In his own published records, Minton who has surprisingly but
understandably not visited Nigeria before said the initial plan
of his group was to make profits ofapproximately 1 per cent of
the value of re-purchased Nigerian debt, and by the close of
1993, they had collected "1.1 billion dollars of CBN Promissory
Notes and approximately 3 billion dollars of Nigerian Bank
debt. These were external debts of foreign currency of banks
all over the world such as Barclays, Standard, Chartered Bank,
etc."

It is further regrettable that Minton has not been cleared of
contemptuous remarks in government circles in these days of
transparency despite his detailed explanation on amounts and
percentages involved in the transactions. Of the 325
transactions listed by the American and besides the $1.1 and $3
billion of debts owned banks, there is an additional $450
million of multilateral debts between the Nigerian government
and USA administration.

How also could our top rate investigators said to be enriching
themselves with their wonderful searches around the world,
ignored the Minton's revelation that $4.5 billion of debt was
bought back for the country with the average price of that debt
being 34 cents on the dollar, apart from the fact that Nigeria
gave about $1.5 billion in cash to re-purchase the debt, in the
five years the exercise lasted? It is also remarkable that
Minton's insistence that the transaction was good for Nigeria
has not been publicly refuted by any concerned government
official or even Fashanu himself.

The businessman has been quoted as saying: "It was good
business for Nigeria. We made a good profit at 1 per cent of
transaction which is perfectly normal. During the course of
this whole operation, the CBN was receiving monthly reports
from us and we were talking on the phone everyday to CBN
Governor Ahmed, Isamel Usman, Sanaki and Masahwa were dealing
with this matter." Given this background, one would ask, what
questions have been asked the living officials concerned? Must
it be said to be wrong all the time, even if it is correctly
done?

And on the celebrated super profits the man is said to have
made, the American has explained that the $1.5 billion the CBN
paid to them over the period was not given up at once before
job, but paid in instalments with $20 million, $75 million and
so on as variations. The question should therefore be asked:
Have these facts been examined for purposes of authentication
before conclusions are reached? Why insist on crucifying a man
whose case has not been genuinely examined?

It is further instructive that Minton said during 1990, the CBN
were runninga little short of money and they did a deal with
NNPC. The CBN then sold NNPC's $500 million worth of promissory
notes, and the CBN wanted NNPC to hold the notes, so that the
Corporation could get the return on the investments. The
essence of this, according to Minton is to free up cash for CBN
which was done under a repurchase agreement for NNPC to sell
back the notes to CBN which they did in 1992.

To Minton, the key thing with regards to the bank debt is that
in March 1992, they tendered all the bank debts into an
official buy-back of the Nigerian government debt under the
plan and they sold back to the CBN $3 billion worth of bank
debt and received back for that on 40 cent on the dollar 1
billion and 200 billion dollars. The amount was given CBN as
soon as it was received. The debt was given with an agent -
City Bank which received all the debt before CBN cancelled it.
£1.2billion was later collected as CBN money. From the records
so far, debt owed was CBN's money and they were the nominee,
the fiduciary holding the debt for CBN.

Part of the unfortunately ignored fact by the detractors of
Minton are that the transaction was a large one. And the fact
that many banks the world over sold into this buy-back with CBN
getting their dues is worthy enough. Minton has notably
recounted that in late 1992, all the promissory notes were sent
to Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, which were the agents. "We
received an instruction from CBN to cancel all the Promissory
Notes (about

1000 notes) tolling $1.1 billion. Chase Manhattan Bank sent a
message to CBN confirming that the Promissory notes were
cancelled." The fact that the CBN grounds of $3 billion was
finished while $1.1 billion debt was wiped off the books makes
an interesting evidence.

According to Minton whose knack for details is limitless, he
received another sum of $450 million as the multilateral debt
which transaction was done in turn went to the Ministry of
Finance because it was owed by them. "These debts were then
cancelled and those were also finished. Those were the three
types of debts. At the end of the day, CBN brought back $4.5
billion and it cost $1.5 billion approximately. In his records,
Green land Holdings and the CBN were there with Sanaki wanting
to supervise how things were done.

I have not heard Fashanu respond to the allegations that he is
being cheaply used. First, Fashanu brought in Abacha's
administration in a situation where Minton's transactions ended
early 1993 before the dictator came in later that year. Fashanu
debt buy-back scam, money-laundering thing looks like a hoax
and there is no chance that any detail, if at all, can be
meaningful.

I believe this because Fashanu has not responded satisfactorily
to charges that he is being used by the Church of Scientology,
an organisation that considers Minton to be their greatest
enemy. It is said that he could not have done the so-called
investigation on his own, while his investigator is allegedly a
full time worker for Scientology. What is his response to the
position that he was given the report to discredit Minton as an
effective critic of Scientology in USA, Europe, France and
Germany?

Minton has been quoted undisputedly as saying: "This is a
vendetta on Scientology's part against me and they are using
Fashanu and Nigeria as a tool to beat me on the head with the
clock and that is the bottom line. The fraudulent transaction,
money laundering claim for IBB is not true. The investigator,
Robert Clark for Fashanu goes by two other different names i.e.
David Lee and David Laubach. With this explanation therefore,
why should a whole government get involved in mudslinging?
Should a government allow itself to be brought into this sort
of mundanity? Here is Fashanu, an Abacha for life President
campaigner who participated actively in the two-million man
march trying to come back to equity! But have we examined his
hands? The former footballer also said recently that he is not
after Babangida. If not, then who? Can't we therefore see the
factor of Minton as the undeserving target? Fashanu has
reportedly asked for N500 million from government to do a
"patriotic job," and principally before he releases details.
Haba! Are we moving forward or seeking enrichment avenues? What
is all these really? Persons with ulterior motive should not be
accommodated in the bid to tarnish the image of this man - a
bid that cannot succeed, given the usual triumph of good over
evil, of truth over falsehood and of righteousness over
unrighteousness. Nigerian government should more significantly
not be brought into the smear campaign. Let's leave Minton, a
man who closed business with Nigeria early 1993, before the
dark days of Abacha, alone.